1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ring network, preferably an Ethernet-based ring network, for transferring data between a plurality of electronic control modules arranged in a vehicle, and relates to a vehicle in which such a network is integrated.
2. Related Art
There is an ever greater need for motor vehicles to have a constantly available communications architecture that can guarantee the vehicle safety even in the event of a fault. Currently used communications systems are often deficient in terms of speed, data volumes or limiting network users, so for instance limiting nodes in the network. Even when a plurality of buses or even redundant buses are used in the network, there are problems because data can be transferred between the buses only via individual processors or electronic control modules. With redundant buses there is also the problem of synchronizing the data flows.
A large volume of data and a large number of electronic control modules in the vehicles require a constantly increasing communications availability between the electronic control modules. Since complexity (e.g., a number of functions in an electronic control module) and dynamics in the vehicles are constantly increasing, the response times of the networked systems are also becoming ever more time-critical. The large number of dependent actuators in the vehicle means that all the data must be reliably available to all the electronic control modules in very short time intervals, typically in the region of milliseconds, because otherwise functional safety can no longer be guaranteed for modern vehicle functions. The demands placed on networked systems as a result of increasing e-mobility can be expected to rise further, and hence the dependency of functions will grow. For example, “steer-by-wire” or “brake-by-wire” concepts require high-availability safety networks to ensure safe operation even in the event of a fault. In order to guarantee sufficient functional safety, the data flows must hence have a certain determinism for data to be transmitted reliably also to the receiving electronic control module in a defined time period. A reliable real-time capability can hence be guaranteed, which ensures that the electronic control module is actually working with live data.
Thus, solutions are known from the prior art in which the individual electronic control modules are connected to the network via network switches, wherein a data flow direction within the network is predetermined in order to simplify control of the network. This has the disadvantage, however, that when there is a break in the network, the data flow is no longer guaranteed and it is no longer possible to reach all the electronic control modules and/or all the actuators.